SINGLE REVIEW: One Republic feat. Seeb – Rich Love

I’m really not sure what is happening with One Republic at the moment. Because “Native” was such a brilliant album the bar was set understandably high for their fourth studio album “Oh My My” and it just didn’t deliver. The foundations were in place with some production experimentation and powerful lyrics but the conviction was weak. Since the album flopped majorly in October they quickly released a new single in April and have already followed it up with a second. “Rich Love” is a EDM crossover collaboration with Seeb and it had me seriously questioning “WHY”. It’s becoming more noticeably the Ryan Tedder project as they are slowly losing their essence as a band. The roots are still intact for the verses which gave me a glimmer of hope but the chorus instantly disappointed. It was too gimmicky and you can tell they are really pushing for radio airplay with the formula and that cheapens it a bit more. The lyrics are super cheesy and explores the concept of love being more powerful and important than money. “Broke as a bottle of wine but drink with you all damn night. Broke as a bottle of wine cause if we don’t find money then what we got honey lifts it up. we got some rich love”. The whole time I was listening I was just confused and questioning why this was released. Ryan Tedder is one of the most brilliant pop songwriters of the last ten years but he just isn’t showcasing it with his own bands material.